Use these guidelines to identify and construct complete sentences, ensuring your writing is grammatically correct:
- Include a Subject-Verb Unit
A sentence must have at least one subject-verb unit. For example: “Willie Stargell whacked a home run.” To identify the subject-verb unit:
- Locate the verb by changing the sentence’s time: “Tomorrow, Willie Stargell will whack a home run.” Verbs: whacked, will whack.
- Find the subject by asking who performs the verb: “Who whacked?” Answer: Stargell whacked.
- Avoid Using -ing Verbs Alone
An -ing verb alone does not form a complete sentence. For example, “the crowd screaming” is not a sentence. To correct it:
- Add a time word: “The crowd was screaming.”
- Connect the -ing phrase to a complete sentence: “Screaming, the crowd watched the home run.”
- Recognize Dependent Clauses with Subordinators
A subject-verb unit introduced by a subordinator (e.g., when, because, if, since) is a dependent clause, not a complete sentence. For example: “When Stargell whacked a home run, the crowd went wild.” The dependent clause (“When Stargell whacked a home run”) must connect to an independent clause to form a complete sentence.
- Handle Who, Which, Whose, or Whom Correctly
Words like who, which, whose, or whom cannot be the subject of a sentence unless it’s a question. A subject-verb unit starting with these words is a dependent clause. For example, “which made the crowd go wild” is not a sentence. Correct it by connecting to an independent clause: “Willie Stargell whacked a home run, which made the crowd go wild.”
